New Iberia, LA

New Iberia is located in south central Louisiana, about 20 miles south of Lafayette. This is the heart of Louisiana Cajun country. We spent a few days in Lafayette on our road trip in 2014.

New Iberia is also close to Avery Island which is home to the maker of Tabasco brand pepper sauce. This product is made by the McIlhenny Company which was founded on Avery Island in 1868 and has been producing it here continuously since. The company is still family owned and managed and the product is still made using much the same process including aging the pepper sauce for 3 years in white oak barrels. In many cases, they purchase the barrels from bourbon makers since they use the barrels to age bourbon only one time.

This is the only place in the world where Tabasco sauce is produced. It is sold in over 180 countries with packaging printed in 22 languages and dialects. The day we were there one of the production lines was bottling the green sauce for distribution in Japan. I found it amazing that Tabasco was introduced into China as early as 1906. Also, many generations of American soldiers have had Tabasco included with their rations.

We also did a tour of the historic downtown of New Iberia and the New Iberia Azalea trail as well as many of the lovely old homes.